{"id":365037,"date":"2026-08-07T05:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T05:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/365037\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T05:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T05:44:18","slug":"its-a-complete-misunderstanding-man-accused-of-shutting-off-juvenile-divers-oxygen-supply-says-he-did-nothing-wrong-wsvn-7news-miami-news-weather-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/365037\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s a complete misunderstanding\u2019: Man accused of shutting off juvenile diver\u2019s oxygen supply says he did nothing wrong &#8211; WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) &#8211; A man initially <a href=\"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/news\/local\/miami-dade\/man-charged-with-attempted-murder-after-allegedly-turning-off-oxygen-system-of-lobster-diver\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">charged with felony attempted murder<\/a> for allegedly shutting off a young diver\u2019s oxygen supply is clearing the air over what happened on the water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an exclusive interview with 7News, 51-year-old Michael Simpson said his accusers have it all wrong about what happened while lobster diving off Fisher Island.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s a complete misunderstanding,\u201d said Simpson. \u201cOne-hundred percent no. Why would I intentionally turn off a compressor with somebody possibly on the bottom, breathing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The father of two is accused of turning off the air supply machine, also known as a \u201cbrownie\u201d device, which provides fresh air to divers underwater, for a juvenile swimmer who was diving for lobsters on another boat on July 29.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s just not true,\u201d said one of Simpson\u2019s sons who was present during the 7News interview.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Days after the lobster mini-season altercation between the two diving groups, Simpson was arrested and charged with felony attempted murder. The judge <a href=\"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/news\/local\/miami-dade\/man-accused-of-shutting-off-juvenile-lobster-divers-oxygen-supply-bonds-out-after-judge-reduces-charge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">later reduced his charge to attempted second-degree murder.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The divers who accuse Simpson of the alleged crime recorded the incident, which, they say, shows him intentionally switching off the brownie device for a younger diver that was beneath the surface.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simpson argues that the footage does not show that, saying it instead only shows Simpson and his two sons swimming back to their boat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s nobody in the water, there\u2019s nobody diving. It\u2019s pitch black,\u201d said Simpson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said it began with his group heading out in two boats that morning before the sun was up, and before anybody was diving.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At some point, Simpson says they encountered a combative group who were territorial over their spot on the water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRight before we went in the water, they continue to try to tell us they were gonna have us arrested. They were gonna call the [Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission],\u201d said Simpson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you guys touch my brownie or my kids, I\u2019m gonna have your asses [expletive] taken to jail,\u201d another diver shouted at Simpson\u2019s group, according to cell phone video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That group had mentioned the brownie device some 40 minutes before the inciting encounter, Simpson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe were 100% confident we weren\u2019t doing anything wrong. We knew there were plenty of lobsters for everybody,\u201d said Simpson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a time, each group managed to collect lobsters peacefully until the chaos began.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGet the [expletive] away from my brownie. I\u2019m gonna [expletive] you up,\u201d a diver from the other boat shouted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simpson said a man from the other boat began yelling that his group was too close to their breathing device.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, cell phone video shows a person from the other boat swimming near the device.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe\u2019s holding the rope attached to the brownie,\u201d said Simpson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simpson claims that man pulled the rope attached to the breathing device.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe kind of gives it a little bit of a tug, like the motor just went, boom,\u201d said Simpson, signaling that it shut down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simpson believes the tugging of the rope attached to the device is what caused it to be turned off, also leading to the man falling into the water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moments after the feisty encounter, Simpson said his boat party left the area and began collecting lobsters some 300 yards away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That was when they encountered authorities with the FWC, who said they were responding to a call by the party of accusers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simpson gave his side of the story to FWC officials, with one officer telling them, \u201cI know that you guys know what you\u2019re doing, looks like it. You guys be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simpson added that had there been an emergency in the water involving that group, he would not hesitate to help.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI had my two children out there. If any of those people in the water would\u2019ve had a problem, I would\u2019ve been the first person to save them,\u201d said Simpson.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Simpson intends to plead not guilty to the attempted murder charge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">7News has attempted to reach out to members of the other group of divers several times but has not received a response.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p>\tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) &#8211; A man initially charged with felony attempted murder for allegedly shutting off a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-365037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}